Denzel Washington's to-do list: Black Panther 3, a couple Shakespeares, and retirement

Hold on—did Denzel Washington just reveal that Black Panther 3 was in the works via a random “where do you see yourself in five years”-style interview response? Yeah, he kinda did! Seems like he really meant it when he said he was “putting this dress on, these rings, and I’m going crazy” in the leadup to Gladiator II.

In a clip shared by Australia’s Today, Washington laid out some pretty concrete-sounding plans for his final act, all without really being prompted. “Especially at this point in my career, I’m only interested in working with the best. I don’t know how many more films I’m gonna make—probably not that many. I want to do things I haven’t done,” he said. “I played Othello at 22, I’m about to play Othello at 70. After that I’m playing Hannibal. (The Carthaginian general in an Antoine Fuqua film, not the cannibal.) After that, I’ve been talking with Steve McQueen about a film. After that, Ryan Coogler’s writing a part for me in the next Black Panther. After that, I’m gonna do the film Othello. After that, I’m gonna do King Lear. After that, I’m gonna retire.”

Now Black Panther 3 hasn’t been officially confirmed by Disney yet, although it isn’t remotely surprising that Coogler is allegedly working on it; Disney does love a sequel. Even on the off chance the company was wavering, there’s really nothing they can do about it now. They certainly wouldn’t want to tamper with Washington’s to-do list tampered with, and now we’d all know exactly what type of home run they’d be passing on. The MCU might just want to get whatever spoiler contingency plan they had in place for Tom Holland ready in the background; it sounds like those rings really unleashed something in Washington that can’t be put back.

You can watch the entire clip (to prepare for your next “where do you see yourself in five years” question if nothing else) below: